Look, There's One Now!

Yesterday we talked about people who knew Jesus and have wandered off. Today we're looking at people who have never known Jesus.

Lost people: people who have never heard the truth or seen the truth and are just completely lost. We’re driving our herd of sheep through the wilderness, trying to keep everybody rounded up and together, and suddenly we see a sheep out in the distance. Well, whose sheep is that? Where did he come from? Let’s go see! We can’t leave that one! We can’t leave them out there alone.

The easiest ones to see are the ones who don’t even know what the truth is because they’re just way out there:

Romans 1:18-31 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ​31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

They are jacked up. They’re pretty easy to spot. Not because of their physical appearance, but because if you spend any time with them at all, you’re going to know they’re lost. And you come along and tell them, “I don’t have all of this figured out, I don’t know all of the answers, I don’t have the Bible memorized, but between all of us I think we can get some answers for you. Come on and let’s try to figure this out.”​

Ephesians 2: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, ​carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath

These are a little harder to spot:​ These are generally nice, decent, moral people. They just don’t know Christ. They work hard, they’re just trying to make the best they can out of life, provide for their families, just trying to do their best. But they’re as far from Christ as you can imagine. They think they’ve got it mostly figured out, and think they don’t really need church because they’re okay. We don’t just leave them out there either, we build relationships with them and love them and show them that they’re not okay. They’re trying hard and that’s great, but they’re missing a piece that will help them put the whole puzzle together. That’s not going to happen in one conversation, that may take years! I’m in conversations with people, and I see progress and growth, I see that they’re starting to think differently and ask different questions, and I love it. They’re decent people, good friends, but they’re lost. We don’t just leave them behind because we’re on a different path and following Jesus!

Then there are people who have never had faith. We read about them all over the Gospels. You’re going to recognize these people. They were the leaders of the community: mayors, governors, council members, congressmen, well-respected in the community. They were called Pharisees. Jesus gets all over them in Matthew 23, and calls a spade a spade. When you’re dealing with religious people who think they’ve got it all figured out and are really lost, sometimes you have to hit them with a hammer. Okay, not a literal, physical hammer – we’re not advocating violence here – but here’s what Jesus said:

Matthew 23:23-24 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ​24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Jesus gets sarcastic sometimes. This is the same as looking at a speck in somebody else’s eye while having a 2x4 sticking out of yours. They were trying to make people follow all of the law, do all the right stuff, letter by letter, but over here their lives were a wreck. He goes on to say:

Matthew 23:25 For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate

Now who’s done this – you get it out of the sink, you know it’s been used, you think, “Meh, it’s not that bad…I’ll just rinse it off.”

Matthew 23:25 For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, ​but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

That’s why they’re really hard to spot –because they’re trying so hard to keep up appearances. They seem to love Jesus, look they’ve got their act together, but if they ever open up to you, it’s a mess inside. He calls them whitewashed tombs, which outwardly look beautiful. Graveyards can look gorgeous…but think about what they’re covering – rotting corpses! That’s really quite gross! But that’s what Jesus is saying – inside, they’re full of dead bones.

What do you do with those people? Just leave them? They may choose to wander away, but isn’t it our responsibility to say wait, here’s what I’m seeing. Let me tell you about a better way. Let me tell you about Jesus. Not to start preaching hellfire and brimstone, but to start telling your story, about how you came to Christ.

​Every story is different, but every story matters to God and he will use every one of them if you are willing to be used.